The present invention relates to a thrust chain link of a conveyor chain of a conveyor system for conveying articles suspended from retaining adapters, to a conveyor chain, to a conveyor system as well as to a method for positioning a retaining adapter on a conveyor chain.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Conveyor systems are used for conveying suspended objects and may include a conveyor chain composed of chain links, which is driven by friction rollers. Some conveyor systems also have thrust elements with carrier bars oriented perpendicularly to the conveying direction project vertically downwards on the bottom each of the chain links, wherein retaining adapters or items suspended from these retaining adapters, for example garments such as shirts or jackets or bags, are moved by the carrier bars in the conveying direction.
In particular in a conveyor system formed as a so-called “sorter”, it is important to accurately know the position of the retaining adapters and thus the position of the articles to be conveyed and to maintain a predetermined distance between the retaining adapters, so that individual retaining adapters and articles suspended from the individual retaining adapters can be sorted from one region of the conveyor system to another area of the conveyor system via a switch, as needed.
This can be accomplished, for example, by using synchronizing units which engage positively in the chain links and hence match the respective speed of a discharge-/ or feeding station with the speed of the conveyor chain.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to obviate prior art shortcomings and to provide an improved thrust chain link of a conveyor chain of a conveyor system, a conveyor chain as well as a conveyor system and a method for positioning a retaining adapter on a conveyor chain which further simplifies the transfer of a retaining adapter and hence also of the article transported with the retaining adapter at a predetermined position of the conveyor chain.